Net10 Wireless shares quite a few similarities to Tracfone and Straight Talk, which makes a lot of sense considering they all are owned by the same company — American Movil. All three wireless services combine to have nearly 289 million subscribers throughout the world with Net10 being arguably the best value of the three.

Net10 Wireless provides a cheaper monthly payment than Straight Talk, yet has more features than the prepaid cards you need to purchase to use Tracfone. Net10 falls under the category of MVNO services (mobile virtual network operator) because it borrows its signal from other networks, in this case AT&T, Cellular Wireless, T-Mobile and Verizon.

Features

Along with Tracfone and Straight Talk, Net10 has always been valued because for an MVNO service it does not depend on only one network. For comparison, Boost Mobile is obligated to the Sprint network. Meanwhile, Net10 Wireless will connect any of the “Big Four” networks (AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon) as well as Celluar Wireless. The result is surprisingly solid call clarity as well as reliability.

Net10 Wireless offers two different plan options depending on if you want to pay by the minute or use an unlimited talk and text plan with varying GB of high speed data. If you opt for the pay as you go option, minutes are deducted based on the time it takes for an incoming or outgoing call. Incoming or outgoing text messages receive a half minute deduction.

Net10 has absolutely no obligations. Unlike major networks, you can leave the wireless provider at any time without early cancellation fees or penalties. Minutes can be purchased directly through your phone or online at Net10Wireless.com.

The balance of your minutes and service date is located on the homescreen. The result is no fear of accidental overage charges or daily airtime fees. And, when you add more minutes the ones not used from the previous purchase are rolled over into the new service date.

Because Net10 Wireless borrows service from a number of the top wireless providers, the service is actually very good. Call clarity is usually reported as good to great, and speed is rarely a major issue.

Net10 has a decent lineup of phones, especially if you don’t have to own the latest new smartphone release. You can also transfer an existing phone you own into a Net10 plan by following a few steps.

Rates

Like Tracfone, the Net10 prepaid option enables users to purchase varying airtime cards that provide anything from 200 to 1,500 minutes. The airtime cards include an expiration date, so for example, paying $20 for 200 minutes will have a service date of 30 days. After 30 days, you need to buy another airtime card of the number will go out of service. Unused minutes are carried over into the new prepaid card aside from the 1,000 minute, 30-day plan.

If you would prefer to receive unlimited text and talk, Net10 also offers monthly service plans. These plans are more suitable for smartphone users that would also like a little bit of data. The most affordable plan is priced at $35 p/ month and provides 2GB of data. The most amount of data (10GB) is featured in Net10’s $60 monthly plan. Extra MB or GB is available for a small fee.

Pros

Net10 is extremely affordable. Whether you opt for the pay as you go or monthly service plan option, you are likely to save hundreds of dollars each year if you do not use your cell phone all that often or are not big on data usage.

In terms of the budget, MVNO services — Net10 is one of the best in terms of number of plan options and dependability of its service. They also have some of the best deals on new cell phones.

Cons

Aside from call clarity where Net10 excels, the rest of its wireless service is rather basic. It is fitting for calls and texts, but not if you like to stream video or music, check email or surf the web. Net10 only offers a limited amount of data, and that’s only with the monthly plans.

Net10 also severely lacks in quality customer service. It is clear they outsource their customer service to other countries and unfortunately the service reps you often speak with lack knowledge and understanding of your issue(s).

Conclusion

Net10 is very affordable if you could care less about having a lot of data and don’t make a ton of calls. However, if you like to use the Web or stream video, you can find better services either prepaid (Boost Mobile, Straight Talk) or through a major carrier (Verizon, AT&T).